every week. the presence of u.s. troops in afghanistan beyond two thousand and fourteen is thrown into doubt after the latest killing of civilians by american forces. the battle for arctic riches heats up as climate change opens the region to increasing economic political and even military competition. and as the n.s.a.'s mass surveillance antics draw unwelcome comparisons to the stasi of east germany r.t. talks to a veteran of the feared and revered cold war spy service to find out just how much the two have in common. we're watching r t international live from our moscow studios where it's just after

eleven in the morning i'm lindsey france thanks for joining me relations between the u.s. and afghanistan are in jeopardy after the latest killing of civilians by american troops in the war zone the afghan president says seven children and a woman died in an u.s. air strike on wednesday nato claims the incident took place during a counter-terror operation and admits that at least two civilians were killed by mistake it's the latest in a series of collateral damage scandals that have shaken u.s. afghan relations kabul has repeatedly demanded an end to night raids and air strikes in civilian areas but some analysts say it should be going further by ensuring that justice is served for the innocent victims. that's always the argument that the foreign powers make they always make it sound like they're invading a country just because they care so much about the people that are under attack but all over the world you can see the fruits of us foreign intervention and these kind of massacres are really built in to foreign interventions you can see it wherever this happens whether in the middle east africa asia anywhere the result is poverty

misery suffering they've never improve the lives of the people of the people have the right to run their own country a president karzai if you represents the afghan people should be demanding that reparations be paid to the people of afghanistan for the so many crimes that have been committed there for all the people killed for all the lives lost for all the poverty and misery created by u.s. intervention and those reparations shouldn't come from ordinary working class americans it ought to come from halliburton it ought to come from general electric and all the military contractors that have made so much money off of the destruction of the people in afghanistan and so many other countries in the world they collateral damage rao has cast fresh doubt on whether kabul will sign a key security pact with washington the deal would see thousands of american troops remain in afghanistan for another ten years after the nato withdrawal by the end of two thousand and fourteen the afghan government has so far been reluctant to agree to the pact which would also make americans immune from afghan law if the agreement is not sealed washington will have to order all of its troops out of afghanistan.

as the arctic sea my sea ice melts away at an alarming rate access to a vast oil reserve is opening up and countries bordering the region are determined to defend their slice of the pie the polar seabed may hold as much as fifteen percent of the world under scuppered oil and thirty percent of its natural gas let's take a look a little bit closer at how nations have to benefit from the receding northern icecap. well the lion's share of the arctics national wealth is still hidden five nations are leading the charge for its resources that's canada denmark norway russia and the united states the other arctic council members are finland iceland and sweden who are trying to expand their influence in the region the organization also has twelve observer states most of them european but in may last year several key asian powers china india japan singapore and south korea established links with the club now economic rise of asia means that its influence on what happens in the

arctic could be crucial as artie's marina port and i have found out the battle for the region could take a dangerous turn. melting icecaps in the arctic have ignited a military build up over the world's smallest ocean and the riches buried beneath it the arctic circle is believed to contain thirty percent of the world's undiscovered natural gas and fifteen percent of its oil the future of the world economy to some extent is dependent on the arctic and i think you know russia and canada the united states and norway and denmark are very interested in exploiting these resources last month canada abruptly claims that it owned the north pole while the united states with its alaskan outpost has plans to boost its military there claiming it lacks operational experience and needs to police the thinning ice as it's replaced by fuel filled maritime traffic but that's not all.

actually u.s. submarines are deployed not too far away off the norwegian coast it would take us missiles sixteen to seventeen minutes to get from there to moscow so we really hope that with all the things that have been happening in the world over the past few decades we put the cold war confrontation behind us in all five countries bordering the arctic cob sovereign rights to resources within two hundred nautical miles of their territorial waterways but a growing up a tight for a bigger slice of the pie is what many fear can inevitably spark a twenty first century cold war in the frozen waters there are also unexplored resources that we don't know yet to which country belongs which could be of course of interest to many countries i do think that smaller things could spark both tension and maybe more tension that we would like to see marina port r.t. new york and trade wise the northern sea route offers

a highly attractive short cut for russia and europe to ship fuel and other goods to asia due to falling ice the passage could take as little as twenty two days and slash transport costs for comparison the southern voyage through the mediterranean and across the indian ocean is roughly twice as long we heard earlier from christopher parry a strategic forecaster and former british naval officer he thinks disputes are unavoidable in the race for the arctic. where i think we could have some disputes is there a number of other interested countries such as india china korea japan all getting very interested not just in the northern sea route but also in the resources that exist there in the arctic already the chinese are. greenland to places like that and i think there will be a scramble by some of the other countries for some of those resources where the ice does recede to you're not just going to have the northern sea route across the top of russia and the northwest passage across canada you're also going to have a route around twenty fifty straight across the top of the north pole now that

means that there are countries that in the past have faced each other across the north pole that only see waste they can have open water for quite a few months of the year and that will introduce different perspectives different geometries and you're going to see canada and you know the states also venturing into the arctic so it's going to be an interesting situation point of view probably around twenty forty five twenty fifty people will be getting ready for that who will sit in the years leading up to the. car to dot com right now cheating in class was never more dangerous it turns out that thirty four u.s. air force officers responsible for launch nuclear weapons are not as highly trained as you might expect they were only able to pass one month by competent staff after receiving the answers the a text message. also on our web site this is not the alps or any other world famous ski destination it's actually north korea's attempt at a top class winter resorts all you want to know about kim jong un's pet project is

waiting for him on line. right on the scene. first for you and i would think that you're. on our reporter's twitter. and instagram. will be in the. when linked files from the us national security agency revealed that the american spies had been keeping close tabs on a key ally germany the government there was furious comparing the practices to those of the stasi east germany's notorious secret police artist peter all over met with a veteran of that service to find out just how similar the two really are. on

finding out that the united states attempt to private mobile phone call confronted president obama with this claim. former offices in the east german secret police which was known as the stars of a warning for the n.s.a. if they think must surveillance is the solution to a nation's problems who quote if it's even the best qualified and most advanced secret service cannot save the state we showed you that away from the professed shock of the politicians at the n.s.a. spying ability how does it compare with the actions of the east german secret services during the cold war as can now as to elude this is exactly as illegal as some of the tactics that the stasi used to employ it is a breach of human rights but the government machine is so powerful that you can't stop it edward snowden's leaks about the shape and scope of n.s.a. surveillance show in germany as one of the top targets for u.s.

snooping again. on top of the ominously named devil's mountain life the remnants of the last major n.s.a. spying program to look into the private lives of the people of berlin or at the bond and now back in the day this post with ears to listen in on the private phone calls of thousands of citizens and both the east and the west of the fifty then it was thousands of calls now it's millions sometimes tens of millions of data connections that are tracked and logged with them electronically mukesh the way they do it now is much more intensive your web browsing history credit cards they can build a profile on you way easier than was ever possible in my day. didn't have access to this type of technology they rely on developing personal contacts manderson's version even those who are working in counterintelligence in the west were ours

even they said it we were pretty good even then the fear of being listened into is taken seriously as one former officer charged with looking into nato told us human those fyrst my superior office. is there any technology we have that i can use to stop eavesdropping on my calls yeah answer yes just don't pick it up these veterans of the spy game might be impressed by the capabilities of the n.s.a. but they cautious about the quality of the information collected for dozens of ships they relied too much on technology that technology might let you locate a person or listen to their calls it doesn't let you know what they think with the usa doing all it can to justify its intelligence gathering the operation dubbed two point zero by critics looks set to continue for some time yet peter all of a germany. president obama is expected to release a proposal this week on limiting the n.s.a. surveillance practices attorney kevin zeese says that the agency in the manner in

which it operates has got to change to avoid alienating u.s. allies i think or shows is that the germans or the rest of the world as well and what they're doing they're doing with a technological peeping tom that doesn't care about body by law were respecting other nations row hers and i think the world have to unite in some way. to deal with this issue of privacy invasion the united states leaves the world the world's there to say we're not going to deal with you you're going to be this way with your world history your extreme militarism and it includes the this dragnet surveillance we're going to have a longer world view say no you know states leads the world i think it becomes a very clear choice for our leadership i think the reform. one or standard thing we need if you want the world we need to do with them in a way of respect and things need to change. the n.s.a. revelations came courtesy of edward snowden who is hiding from washington's

prosecution in russia. later this hour we meet a woman who stood up in support of him and his fellow whistleblowers in her own unique way. a still in oregon is suing nike for one hundred million dollars claiming that the company failed to include a warning on its air jordan stickers that they could be used as dangerous weapons after he used his own pair to beat. another pimp this from the pacific northwest bill gates continues to pimp out your privacy and data to the n.s.a. and many other forgot the spy agency want to give a few bucks but rather than use a sneaker this pimp deploys this company's software products including skype as a dangerous weapon against the constitutional rights of unsuspecting customers on the products. gates to himself when he gets caught.

but. i didn't know that you know the premise is the only industry specifically mentioned in the constitution and. that's because a free and open process is critical to our democracy albus. role. in fact the single biggest threat facing our nation today is the corporate takeover of our government and across several we've been a hydrogen lying handful of transnational corporations that will profit by destroying what our founding fathers once told to us my job market and on this show we reveal the big picture of what's actually going on in the world we go beyond identifying the problem trucks rational debate and a real discussion of critical issues facing america upon bill ready to join the movement then walk a little bit further. previously

peacekeepers were present our concerns with monitoring peace deals again that post conflict environment nowadays they are increasingly asked to operate in a high risk of violence while believe violence is still illegal all we need to stay . motionless with these people who have caused over almost twenty years four million people killed millions of displaced and refugees tens of thousands of women raped tens of thousands of children recruited those soldiers who were slaves no.

over ninety five percent of egyptians have voted in favor of a new constitution put forward by the military backed interim government that's according to early results from this week's referendum announced by the interior ministry islamist opponents boycotted the vote claiming the no campaign was never given a chance by the authorities bell true reports from cairo how many people thought this would be the case as there's been a huge drive by the government and the military pushing people to participate and very yes as well as multimillion dollar purse to campaigns by businessmen across the streets calling on people to ratify this constitution and this is what the government really be looking for is a big yes as they say basically you see the crucial on the political right now and

would see basically pave the way for elections and possibly also paid to brace for a president to come it's kind of the seat of the egypt to fight to the day i'm general ability to tell sisi you said he might run if the people want him to do so this will be a huge blow to them is the brother you know because the situation is basically you know just imagine that being boycotting the very it's this yes to the constitution basically be it make it even harder for them to be able to function on the streets to give the dismissal of the government to the forwards with elections so we'll have to see what's going to happen next but the risk brotherhood and supporters have said they will start step up the process so expect that in the coming days the vote on the constitution followed a months long military crackdown on members of the muslim brotherhood and other activists who objected to the course taken up by egypt's new rulers protest without prior permission were banned the muslim brotherhood also found its hands tied as the group was branded a terrorist organization the president of the arab lawyers association told us this

new constitution puts egypt on the road to dictatorship once again. as a lawyer i've read the constitution the present constitution and the one before this present constitution the biggest problem it has it is that it puts the. and the armed forces above the state and above the constitution people have to understand that egypt is the only out of country that actually is in control beyond any other country all the people who rose against mubarak are now being offered. situation in every sense of the world and even hardship. at the present moment i feel really government in egypt at the present moment it's gone way beyond the previous regimes and its treatment to the citizens who do not support it. some other world news now in brief this hour in the spanish capital

madrid activists have torched trash cans and classed with police the rally was in solidarity with the people of burgos in northern spain thousands of protesting against the government's plans to leave them part of the city center opponents claim it would cause traffic chaos and drain public funds the standoff has forced the local mayor to suspend the project. in iraq government forces have regained control of a small town near the city of fallujah following an air offensive the advance is being hailed as a major success for iraqi troops who have struggled to force militants from the area fighters from the islamic state of iraq and the levant an al qaeda linked group have controlled most of the anbar province for nearly two weeks now they've also stepped up violence across the country forcing the prime minister to issue a plea for international help. mass around the clock protests are raging in thailand's capital where crowds are refusing to leave the streets for a fourth day it's a bid to disrupt bangkok and force the government to step down overnight gunshots

were fired at a crowd of demonstrators injuring at least two people the prime minister has confirmed that she will go ahead with snap elections in february in an effort to calm the situation western intelligence agents are reportedly negotiating with the syrian government to cooperate against jihadists syria's deputy foreign minister confirmed western spies have indeed been in damascus for talks. it's not clear which countries are taking part in the negotiations and the u.k. has denied any involvement meanwhile the syrian opposition says that if the reports are true it would expose double standards in the western camp which had until recently been openly opposing that the mascot's government one intelligence expert told us that western nations have no choice but to work with assad. as a nazi recognition of a number of factors one of those is the inability of the syrian opposition and the rebels to get our act together politically but also i think there is

a recognition that militarily the rebels are unable to deliver on their promises in any case perhaps of more immediate concern to the west and this is particular case in the european capitals it's clear that elements of the syrian opposition comprising fighters jihadist fighters of gone from countries such as britain germany spain etc to syria to fight with al-qaeda linked forces that actually pose a threat to european countries themselves so this recognition is meant that security services have of course been forced to figure out to address this in the best way to their own national interests and of course inevitably that means particularly since it's likely more i think recognize now that assad will be around for some time to actually make those links even if discreetly with back with the regime's intelligence services up next breaking the sat with abby martin. us sitting just behind you wrong iraq and saudi arabia in the number of state

sponsored executions death penalty opponents have plenty of motivation to end capital punishment in this country and while many of these prisoners are indeed guilty of heinous crimes consider this since one thousand nine three hundred twelve people have been exonerated by d.n.a. evidence alone and of those prisoners eighteen were facing death sentences of course hundreds if not thousands of convicted prisoners have no access to d.n.a. evidence virtually ensuring that they will never be able to prove their innocence which is why the decades old case of fourteen year old george stinney is so important one hundred forty four said he became the youngest american citizen to be executed in the twentieth century for killing two white girls in south carolina this being the jim crow era cells the justice system completely failed stinney the moment he told officers that had talked to the girls on the day of their deaths without his parents or a lawyer present and he was taken into a room terror gated in according to police confessed to the crime within an hour however no written confession exists and reports at the time say that the officers

offered stinney ice cream in exchange for the confession fast forward to today are a group of lawyers are trying to clear his name and force the state of south carolina to admit this grave injustice but of course for every person trying to create a more just society in this country there are those who want nothing more than a return to the middle ages. numerous protests in support of whistleblowers such as julian assange bradley manning and edward snowden taken place around the world in recent years archie meets one woman who chose a different way to show her support for the movement. she's a lawyer she's got a ph d. in international law and she was a lecturer but she's also posed for glamour calibers in what some would say would be provocative or racy photos of her age she says is to raise funds and awareness for the works of whistleblowers and other activists like that today we're joined by

dr rolls with a fuller thanks very much for joining us today but what i'd like to know is why did you choose this matter of getting awareness why not another way well actually i have written articles on whistleblowers in the military so i have actually written quite a lengthy article is that are going to be published but i really thought that in order to make a difference to these with employers who as we know are in jail or not the moment i needed to involve myself in a more material way and i thought well how can i do something that isn't just a matter of talking i think there's quite a lot of consensus on this issue that we have talked enough i do think that something that was a glowing review in violations of international law is very empowering i think there is attention given to these issues obviously however i do think that people hear about these issues and they might you know get you complain in private or perhaps say on that they've been unfairly treated in private but what i'm trying to

do is give people a way that they can contribute materially choosing because you can sit and you know complain in the poverty something like that but this is a way to actually make a contribution to funding the legal defense or for example organization or awareness or organizational helpful is a blowers not necessarily i just wiki leaks or chelsea manning or snowden also we're finding out public internet work and fair which is a canadian initiative reforms will also work place was a blowers are very important as well so this way it gets away fast and basically put our money where our mouth is and how good people are going. more news in half an hour but right now it's the kaiser report here on our team international. the majority of congress are now millionaires for the first time in history

according to the center for responsive politics which sounds pretty insulting when the average american is that doing so well financially this seems bad like a bunch of rich guys rule the country which they kind of do but one could argue that congress isn't rich enough first off due to inflation a billion dollars is not as much as it used to be especially the cost of a campaign to get in a congress costs around one million six hundred thousand dollars so yeah a million dollars of net worth may sound pretty rich to you or me but the expensive game of us politics these guys can't even afford the costs related to getting a work electoral campaigns are a big money affair so it is no surprise that people like you or me can't get into the law making business without selling at least a little piece of our souls to someone who has very deep pockets so again the problem isn't that congressmen are wealthy it is that many of them have to get constant financing in order to maintain their positions and as you average folks know once you're in debt they've got you by the throat well that's just my opinion .

of the play. the limbic spirit travels with the flame from its place in greece. joining james brown for an elemental and epic journey around russia and beyond.

welcome to the kaiser report i'm max kaiser. in oregon is suing nike for one hundred million dollars claiming that the company failed to include a warning on its air jordan sneakers that they could be used as dangerous weapons after he used his own pair to beat a man another pimp this from the pacific northwest to bill gates continues to pimp out your privacy and data to the n.s.a. and any other forgot to spy agency want to give him a few bucks. but rather the news sneaker this pimp the boys is companies software products including skype as a dangerous weapon against the constitutional rights of unsuspecting customers of the pimps products will gates himself when he gets caught interesting i just don't questions to mix it appears we're flat backing from bill gates and he's not even paying us for it but isn't that the truth ever says he was what twice convicted of

uplift it's all about bill bill bill bill well i thought of this when i saw somebody tweet out this photo of chris hedges chris hedges says we must either defy the corporate state or accept our extinction as a species we have been stripped of the power to express dissent or effect change rebellion is the only way to remain fully human now in that context i was shocked to see on the front page this is a later edition so it was in the back page but on the front page of the sunday times they had gates tops world popularity poll he was voted by people of the world the most admired person in the world. for the people and to fall in love with their oppressors with. the stockholm syndrome and he has created a virtual prison.